1539-DE SOTO discovers and crosses the Mississippi. 1542----Winter-quarters of his company, probably in Missouri, in 1541-'42. De Soto died, and was buried in the Mississippi, near mouth Louis de Moscoso succeeds De Soto. He marches to Red 1543-Moscoso and his troops march through Arkansas and Missouri. 1544-De Biedma makes a report of De Soto's Expedition, to the King of Spain. 1671-The French take formal possession of the Northwest. 1673-May 13, Marquette and Joliet leave Mackinaw in search of 66 the Mississippi. June 17, Marquette reaches the Mississippi at the mouth of the Wisconsin, and descended it to the mouth of the Arkansas. 1675-May 18, Marquette died. 1680-La Salle sends Hennepin and Dugay to explore the Upper Mississippi. St. Anthony's Falls named by Hennepin. 1682-Original naming of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and the countries through which they flow. 1683 First settlements made by La Salle. He descends the Missis sippi to its mouth. March 6, takes possession of the country, and named it "Louisiana." 1687-March 17, La Salle is killed by some companions. 1696-War between the Iroquois Indians and the British Colonies, against the Province of Canada. 1705-The Missouri River explored to the mouth of the Kansas River by the French. 1712 September 14, Louisiana granted to Crozart by Louis XIV. 1717 August 22, Crozart resigns Louisiana to the Crown. Transfer of the grant to "The Company of the West." First Laws. 1718-Colonists arrive. New Orleans laid out. Fort Chartres, Illinois, commenced. 1719-Renault leaves France for the Illinois country. Arrives, and dispatches 200 miners, assayers, and artisans in search of precious metals in Illinois and Missouri. Fort Chartres completed. 1720-Spanish Expedition from Santa Fe, against the French and Missouri Indians. 1724-Erection of Fort Orleans on an island in the Missouri. Destruction of the Fort. 1731-January 24, Company of the West surrender their charter to the King of France. 1762-November 3, Paris Treaty concluded. Louisiana ceded to Spain by France. Village du Cote (St. Charles) established. 1763-November 3, M. Laclede arrives at St. Genevieve and Fort Chartres. 1764-February 15, St. Louis founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest. 1766-August 11, Grant of land received by Pierre Laclede Liguest, upon which to build St. Louis. 1769-First occupancy by the Spaniards. 1770-Spain obtains possession of St. Louis and Upper Louisiana. 1772-Fort Chartres evacuated. 1778-General Clark takes possession of Kaskaskia. Cahokia joins the Americans. June 20, Pierre Laclede Liguest died near the mouth of Arkansas River, aged 54. 1780-St. Louis attacked by 1500 Indians and 140 British. 1785-Great flood of the Mississippi threatening to inundate St. Loui 1786-Julien Dubuque first visits the Upper Mississippi. 1787-New Madrid founded by Colonel G. Morgan, of New Jersey. 1788-Dubuque obtains a grant of 140,000 acres, embracing the pres ent Dubuque, lead mines, etc. First boat-load of lead bought from the Indians and shipped to St. Louis by Col. Joseph Shaw, the pioneer of the lead trade. 1795 First Ferry established at St. Louis, by Captain James Pig gott. 1798-Charles Dehault Delassus de Deluzière succeeds Zenon Tradeau as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Louisiana. 1803-Louisiana ceded to the United States. 1804 March 26, "Territory of Orleans" organized; residue of country called "Territory of Louisiana." 86 Lewis and Clark set out upon their Western Exploring Expedition. 1808 September 5, Major George C. Sibley established Fort Osage Government Factory on the Missouri. July, the "Missouri Gazette," first newspaper west of the 1809-Governor M. Lewis committed suicide. 1811-December 11, Earthquake at New Madrid. 1812 June 4, Name changed to Territory of Missouri, and advanced to second grade of government. December 7, First Session of Legislature convened at St. Louis. 1814-December 5, Second Session of Legislature convened at St. Louis. Bank of Missouri chartered. 1815-Second weekly paper established at St. Louis. 1817 The first Steamboat (General Pike) reached St. Louis. 66 John Scott, of St. Genevieve, elected first Delegate to Congress. 1818-19-Missouri Compromise passed. 1819-June 8, Exploring Expedition under Major Long left St. Louis for Mandan villages and the Yellowstone; failed. 1820-Constitutional Convention at St. Louis. 1821-Admission of Missouri into the Union. 1833-Trouble with the Mormons in Jackson County. 1838-State Capitol commenced. 1852 November 20, First Locomotive west of Mississippi, on Pacific Railroad. 1859-July, Introduction of Horse Railroads in St. Louis. GENERAL VIEW OF MISSOURI. 'MISSOURI, one of the largest of the United States, and the first formed wholly west of the Mississippi River, is bounded on the north by Iowa, (from which it is separated for about 30 miles on the northeast by the Des Moines River,) and on the east by the Mississippi River, which divides it from Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; on the south by Arkansas, and on the west by Indian, Kansas, and Nebraska Territories; from the latter two of which it is partly separated by the Missouri River. This State lies (with the exception of a small projection between the St. François and the Mississippi Rivers, which extends to 36°,) between 36° 30′ and 40° 36′ N. lat., and between 89° 10′ and 96° W. lon., being about 285 miles in its greatest length from E. to W., and 280 in width from N. to S., including an area of 67,380 square miles, or 43,123,200 acres, only 2,938,425 of which were improved in 1850."-Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World. PHYSICAL FEATURES. In our description of the State at large we will arrange it in four distinct divisions-the Western, the Eastern, and the Northern-and afterwards describe the Southern or the "Swamp Region of Southeast Missouri;" and to give the reader a more clear and well-defined idea of its topography, we insert the following interesting extract from an article in the Western Journal, vol. ii. p. 292, from the pen of W. R. Singleton, Esq., Civil Engineer. He says: "I shall begin at the mouth of the Lamine River, in Cooper County, and, drawing a line due south to its intersection of the south boundary line, where White River leaves the State, shall establish this as the 'datum line,' dividing the eastern from the western part of Missouri; from the fact that the two sections differ in their geographical, geological, and topographical features. To a superficial observer, scarcely any difference would appear upon the map of the State; but the topographer must, at the first glance, detect a marked and striking one. (20) "The Main Ridges first claim our attention. That ridge which, leaving the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre at Long's Peak, west of St. Vrain's Fort, in lat. 40° 20′, lon. 105° 45', runs south until it heads the South Fork of the Platte, becomes the main divide between the waters which flow north to the Nebraska and east into the Missouri, and those which flow into the Mississippi by the Arkansas. It passes a few miles north of Bent's Fort, and from thence bears due east to the head of Little Arkansas, separates it from Smoky Hill Fork of Kansas, and passing north of Council Grove, a few miles east of which it divides itself into two branches; the northern one passing into the State of Missouri between the head waters of the Osage and the small streams which empty directly into the Missouri. "This ridge continues until it reaches the head waters of the River Lamine, and then again divides; its main branch passing south of all the branches of the Lamine, is the divide between that stream and the waters of the Osage; and after running toward the Valley of the Missouri, there loses itself between the mouths of the Lamine and the Osage Rivers-changing its character topographically, from the former to the latter, so materially, that that part near the Osage appears to be a different ridge altogether. Those who have noticed the slopes of the hills at the mouth of the Lamine would scarcely identify them as belonging to the same ridge with the bluffs just above the Osage. "The southern branch of the principal ridge, passing between the heads of the Osage on the east, and the streams which empty into the Arkansas, retains its character, and passing into the State of Missouri, in Jasper County, 110 miles south of the mouth of the Kansas, becomes upon the maps the Ozark range; which name is assumed to distinguish it from other ridges in that section. Possessing no feature whatever to characterize it as a mountain chain-for in every essential it is different from a mountain—this ridge, as it progresses to the east, becomes the most remarkable feature in the topography of the State. It is the dividing ridge between the waters of the Missouri on its northern slope, and those of the Mississippi on its southern, from its inception at Long's Peak to its terminus on the banks of the Mississippi. From Long's Peak to the datum line, this ridge is celebrated for its pampas or prairies, its long slopes, continuous directions, and the great breadth and uniformity of its summit level; from the same line to the Mississippi River, it is equally remarkable for the reverse of these features; and hence we have in this view divided the southern half of the State into two topographical departments. And while, in many particulars, the escarpment |